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Anyone Have a Sony 40XBR700 and use HD OTA Signals

I purchased a Sony 40XBR700 and for the most part, I am very satisfied with it. When I purchased it, I knew the HD issues between 4:3 and 16:9. I had no desire to immediately dive into HD, and since my family watches mainly Dish SD channels (we don't subscribe to HBO or Showtime), I figured I would go with 4:3 because all of the content we watched was being broadcast by Dish in the 4:3 format. And, Sony advertised it's ability to transfer a 16:9 incoming signal with its "16:9 Enhancement" vertical compression technology that maximizes picture resolution on 'anamorphic' or 'enhanced for widescreen' sources, which works great with DVDs. I have the Sony DVP-9000ES, and the 480p transfer to the television is wonderful, with very little loss of picture at the top and bottom of the set. Well, this weekend I borrowed a friend's Sony SAT-HD100 HDTV Receiver. Yes, I know it's for DirectTV, but all I wanted to do was see what OTA HD signals looked like on my tv. The signals came in very well, and I sent the signals to the tv at 1080i by using the Y/Pb/Pr output jacks on the STB. But, to my surprise, I lost 3" on top and 3" on bottom to a black bar. The picture was great, but I couldn't get used to to the black bars. I then switched to the normal A/V output and used the pan/scan feature on the STB, and the picture filled the screen on my tv, but I assume it was being transmitted at 480i, not at 1080i, which is what I normally get when I watch Dish. My question is, has anyone else experienced this with their 4:3 tv, and is it this way with all STBs, including the Dish 6000 when using the 8VSB tuner cartridge? I'm not sure I want to spend that much to purchase the 6000 and 8vsb cartridge just to watch local stations with a reduced picture in HD when I can see them now in 480i.

I don't own a 40XBR700, but I may be able to answer a few of your questions. Welcome to DBSTalk by the way.

First, the Dish 6000 has 2 modes for 4x3 output - one compresses the extire picture into a 16x9 window so the top and bottom don't get cut off and the other I believe passes the signal straight through. The Sony that you borrowed may have a similar setting when sending HD to a 4x3 set.

Second, your television may have a setting to force the vertical compression into a window. I'm not nearly as sure about this one, though. You'd have to look through your menus. For a better answer, I'd suggest that you post your question in the Sony forum at www.hometheaterspot.com

Being an admin here, I don't normally point people to another forum, but in this case, you most likely will get a better answer there.

Gregg is considered one of the United States Best Calibrationists, he travels the world bringing new life to TV which many have thought were already giving the best picture possible.

Gregg uses lots of tools and skill to do his work. (Hes even got one of those suction cup things) His work is more then the standard ISF work. I am lucky enough to have him come to my house this weekend to work on my Toshiba TW40X81 HD set.

I have started another thread which can be found HERE which you can read all about the work he has done.

I use both Video Essentials and Avia for adjust my set currently. VE is better on setting up my audio system, and AVIA is better for tuning the video. But thats just my personal opinion.

Originally posted by rayvrwc The signals came in very well, and I sent the signals to the tv at 1080i by using the Y/Pb/Pr output jacks on the STB. But, to my surprise, I lost 3" on top and 3" on bottom to a black bar. The picture was great, but I couldn't get used to to the black bars. I then switched to the normal A/V output and used the pan/scan feature on the STB, and the picture filled the screen on my tv, but I assume it was being transmitted at 480i, not at 1080i, which is what I normally get when I watch Dish.

Is it possible that the program you watched was not broadcast in true HD? Only a limited number of programs are actually HD and my "little brother" to your set (32XBR450) seems to handle them well.

Originally posted by rayvrwc The signals came in very well, and I sent the signals to the tv at 1080i by using the Y/Pb/Pr output jacks on the STB. But, to my surprise, I lost 3" on top and 3" on bottom to a black bar. The picture was great, but I couldn't get used to to the black bars.

Welcome to the aspect ratio issue. HD is broadcast in 16:9. To fit it in a 4:3 screen like yours it has to be letterboxed. Sony does a very good job of "rastering down" the 1080i to fit on your screen w/o loss of resolution. But how would you expect wide-screen material to fit on a square screen w/o loss of image as w/pan & scan?

This is why many HDTV buyers opt for 16:9 widescreen models. However, when they view SD material, as most of us do most of the time, they have to settle for windowboxing w/black or grey blocks on the sides or else stretch or crop ("zoom") the picture.

I believe you have the best CRT TV you could have based on the amount of HD vs. SD video there is to watch today. So learn to live w/the letterboxing of HD & other WS material and enjoy full screen video w/SD material.